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The following article is part of our ongoing effort to provide a variety of Christian perspectives on the Israel-Lebanon conflict.

People were wandering the streets in the lands of the Bible. They were lost and out of place. It was clear they longed to be back in their ancestral homes—homes and land they had occupied since the time of Abraham.

It was Friday, August 11, 2006. I was in Beirut. These wandering people were some of the more than 900,000 displaced men, women, and children from Southern Lebanon fleeing the ravages of war and ending up in Eastern and Northern Beirut for safety.

As this story of the massive dismantling of human lives unfolded, and the entire world held its breath, I was startled to discover one of America's better known preachers speaking mainly about prophecy; not the suffering of people caught in this tragedy: "It is apparent, in light of the rebirth of the State of Israel, that the present day events in the Holy Land may very well serve as a prelude or forerunner to the future Battle of Armageddon and the glorious return of Jesus Christ."

As I watched all this misery, I was reminded that Muslims and Jews are not just objects of biblical prophecy. They are people for whom Christ died. I recalled my early Christian teaching that the ground is level at the foot of the cross. In God's plan, all people are precious; including Christian, Sunni, and Shiite Arabs in Lebanon as well as their Israeli cousins.

"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:26-29, NIV).

Seeing the churches of Lebanon take action to alleviate the suffering of some 4,000 wounded in the midst of this crisis was truly inspiring. They are reaching out and taking in their fellow Lebanese regardless of religion or ethnic background. Food, clean water, shelter, and pharmaceuticals are being offered freely. Christian schools and churches are full of these dislocated people. Muslims are experiencing the unconditional love of Christ in action.

One church, not known for having much of this world's goods, is using their own resources to care for 300 displaced people. A youth group is organizing games and music for the children. Lebanese Muslims are sleeping on the floors of churches and Christian schools by the thousands.

Meanwhile back in America, some of the denominations who founded these Lebanese churches in the last century are absorbed with this crisis in the Middle East for another reason: The fulfillment of prophecy. Somehow the death of over a hundred Israelis and more than a thousand Lebanese is not their focus. The real concern seems to be Eschatology, the doctrine of last things.

In the midst of all this pain another well known American preacher stresses politics over the redemptive message of the Gospel: "Geopolitically speaking, we should support Israel because it is the only true democracy in the Middle East. The tiny democracy of Israel is surrounded by feudal states and brutal dictatorships that control vast regions of land and oil resources. The presence of the Israeli Defense Forces brings stability to that part of the world."

Some evangelicals tend to put everything into that "last times" mold instead of reaching out in Christian love to those in harms way. It's like the Arab-American comic who said, "Other ethnic groups get a history month or an awareness month. What do Arabs get? An Orange Alert."

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August (Web-only) 2006, Vol. 50